In times of crisis, the job of a public relations spokesperson is to deliver the facts, and only the facts. The NTSB had just begun their investigation and Ms. Tyrell had not spoken to any investigator regarding their progress on the case. To suggest that her employer was ever at fault before being proven so is a PR nightmare. Instead of remaining innocent until proven guilty, Tyrell had Metrolink guilty until proven innocent by her words.

“It was premature to assign responsibility before the NTSB had done its work. She hadn’t even spoken to them. She reacted too quickly,” says Jerry Swerling, Director and Professor of PR Studies, University of Southern California.

They key here is to show compassion as Ms. Tyrell did but to also stick to the facts. The now-unemployed Ms. Tyrell has explained she was trying to be honest and upfront to rebuild public trust. Her job is to report what is known and what is not known. Don’t lie to us to build trust.

Earlier this week, two pop-culture news stories broke in the media – Clay Aiken announced he’s gay and Lindsey Lohan announced she and Samantha Ronson are an item. To my disappointment, two of the most respected, well-known media outlets released the information without any regard for professionalism or poise.

The Chicago Tribune called it, “Hollywood’s least surprising revelations,” and Newsweek called it, “Gay: Clay Aiken’s Overdue Honesty.” I call their comments inappropriate, suggestive, and lazy journalism.

Lohan laughed and answered, “For a very long time.”" type=”#_x0000_t75″ o:spid=”_x0000_s1026″>I think the most important issue here is the publications’ display of harsh stereotyping without even realizing it. Based strictly on visual observations, The Tribune and Newsweek (and probably many more) made assumptions and suggestions about these celebrities’ personal lives that were not factual until earlier this week. In doing so, they delivered a message I found to be inappropriate and unfortunate. 

It is not the place of these hard news outlets to make judgments about others without facts. That is, after all, the definition of news.

Not to mention, journalism 101 teaches all its loyal students – If everybody knows it, it’s not news! If Aiken and Lohan’s personal lives were so unsurprising and overdue, why was it on the home page of The Chicago Tribune and Newsweek in the first place? Why did it make the full cover story of People Magazine?

The Tribune and Newsweek may have simply written about Clay Aiken and Lindsey Lohan’s announcements, but what I read was much different.

For example, according to the “undernews” or so called unestablished blogs and emails (you know you’ve gotten some) Barack Obama is a “radical Muslim”, Sarah Palin has been on the cover of Vogue Magazine and who really is Trig’s mother?

Yes, these little tidbits are juicy. True? No. Unfortunately, the trivialization of the celeb world is seeping into the presidential race, away from the issues at hand. I almost feel like one of these days instead of CNN, we will be tuning into “Barack’s Best Week Ever”. Well just kidding, not really.

While the John Edwards baby scandal was released on Enquirer and did in fact pan out to be true, I wouldn’t raise their credibility rating. The problem is that a significant part of voter perceptions are biased as a result of these sources that distribute falsehoods.

So this political season, keep a critical eye. Fact check, it is about the issues! Know your sources and don’t fall into the trivial trap. And yes, that photo has been photoshopped.

So, when I heard about YourPitchSucks.com through the PR grapevine, I was miffed.

Public relations is a skill. It’s an acquired knowledge and a profession that is best served by experience and excellence. So, why do PR practitioners need a Web site service to tell them if they are performing well — to tell them literally…if their pitch sucks?

How do you not know already? Pitching is an instrumental tool in the practice of PR. Some may even call it the foundation of a strong campaign. And you’re telling me, that people in our industry are turning to a Web site to either affirm their capabilities or assess the apparent lack of expertise in the pitch writing realm?

There’s room for those who do not play in the PR world to use this site. Small business owners who want to distribute some news, or HR reps who are caught in unfamiliar territory as they reach out to reporters may find this useful, as a supplemental tool.

But any public relations professional needs to obtain the training and knowledge to roll out good pitches all the time, without the use of a witty titled Web site.